In this week’s parsha, Parshas Balak, Balak the king of Moav, fearing the strength of the Jewish nation encamped on his borders, hires Bilaam to curse the Jewish people. Balak is afraid that he will not be able to militarily defeat Am Yisrael, but if...
In this week’s parsha, Chukas, our three great leaders - Miriam, Moshe and Aharon - meet their end on ever la’Yarden (the eastern side of the Jordan River). Miriam dies in Kadesh; Moshe and Aharon are banned forever from the Holy Land, due to their...
At the end of a dramatic parsha, filled with triumph and hope on the one hand (וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה לְחֹבָב בֶּן-רְעוּאֵל הַמִּדְיָנִי חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה, נֹסְעִים אֲנַחְנוּ אֶל-הַמָּקוֹם - And Moshe said to his father-in-law: we are traveling to the place that Hashem said, “to you I...
This week’s parsha, Parshas Naso, is the longest parsha in the Torah. This is, in a large part, due to perek zayin (Ch.7), which is 89 pasukim (verses) long! The perek begins with: וַיְהִי בְּיוֹם כַּלּוֹת מֹשֶׁה לְהָקִים אֶת-הַמִּשְׁכָּן, וַיִּמְשַׁח אֹתוֹ וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתוֹ וְאֶת-כָּל-כֵּלָיו, וְאֶת-הַמִּזְבֵּחַ, וְאֶת-כָּל-כֵּלָיו;...
Shavuos: The Yom Tov of Torah. וַיִּקַּח סֵפֶר הַבְּרִית, וַיִּקְרָא בְּאָזְנֵי הָעָם וַיֹּאמְרוּ, כֹּל אֲשֶׁר-דִּבֶּר ה’ נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע, and he (Moshe) took the Book of the Covenant, and he read it in the ears of the nation, and they said: All that Hashem has spoken,...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Bechukosai, we read of the klalos, curses, that will befall our people; a prophecy that has come to fruition one too many time in our long and bitter history of exile. Due to the severity of the curses, these parshios...
This week’s parsha is Parshas Behar. The Torah teaches us about the mitzvos ha’te’luyos ba’aretz (mitzvos that are only kept in the land of Israel) of Shemittah (translated as the seventh Sabbatical year) and Yovel (translated as the 50th Jubilee year). The final pasuk of the...
In פרק כג (Ch. 23) of this week’s parsha, Parshas Emor, we are commanded regarding Shabbos. The pasukim (verses) then move through the entire Jewish calendar year, beginning in Nissan with Pesach, moving on to the Omer offering and the counting of the Omer -...
Yom Ha’atzmaut (observed) 4 Iyar 5779, corresponding to May 9, 2019: 71 years since the establishment of Medinat Yisrael, our new country in our old land. Towards the end of this week’s parsha, Parhas Kedoshim, the pasuk tells us: וָאֹמַר לָכֶם אַתֶּם תִּירְשׁוּ אֶת-אַדְמָתָם, וַאֲנִי אֶתְּנֶנָּה...
This week’s parsha, Parshas Achrei Mos, begins with the following pasuk (verse): And Hashem spoke to Moshe, after the deaths of the two sons of Aharon, when they came close to Hashem, and they died (Vayikra 16:1). This pasuk is referring to an incident mentioned...